Chapter 22

Fraser

Interesting.

Lorne and Kenzie didn't make any comments about my clean new pants, but that seemed to be because they were watching for Paxton's reaction.

He just blinked and inched closer to me, which was telling all on its own, but Kenzie and Lorne were frighteningly patient when they wanted something. The troublemakers just smiled and sat on the floor like sweet angels as Paxton took in the sight on the coffee table.

Beside a plate of cookies sat four sippy cups of juice and a pitcher of water that I was pretty sure I'd gotten as a housewarming gift a thousand years ago when I'd first moved out on my own. They'd even set out some plastic cups beside it so we had plenty of options.

It was ingenious actually.

Paxton hadn't expected it either judging by his wide eyes. "Smart people are a pain in the ass."

Oops.

I could see that Paxton hadn't intended for his whispered words to come out of his mouth, but he didn't apologize when they just smiled wider. They knew they were behaving badly and were going to power through it because they liked making new friends.

"Thank you, gentlemen." Ignoring the shenanigans, I led Paxton over to the couch and sat us down so he didn't have to decide what to do. "You've done a good job with our impromptu tea party."

I got beaming smiles for understanding their plan, but instead of making Paxton more nervous, he actually started to relax.

Assuming that getting more information made it easier to handle the situation, I focused on talking to the troublemaking twosome. "How is work going, gentlemen?"

Looking down, I nodded toward a sippy cup. "Juice, please."

I could almost hear Paxton telling himself that a cup didn't make the Dom or something equally as adorable, but he was very quiet as Kenzie handed me a sippy cup. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Shifting like a matron getting more comfortable in her ballgown, he nodded. "I've had a lot of work lately and just finished restoring the cutest set of handmade baby toys. People need to stop storing things in attics if there are animals in the attic."

I wasn't sure if anyone had mentioned what Kenzie actually did besides drive everyone crazy, so I leaned toward Paxton. "Kenzie restores antique toys. He does a beautiful job."

Giving Paxton something safe to comment on went a long way in smoothing out the situation. He smiled and some of the stiffness eased out of his back. "That's a fascinating career. I'm not handy at all, so I can't even imagine all the work that goes into that."

Kenzie wiggled excitedly and charged right into a lecture on how anyone could learn to do it and about how his father had started teaching him the skills at a young age. When he finally wound down, Paxton shook his head. "The only practical things my father taught me were how to order in a fancy restaurant and what to say at faculty events. My parents are both college professors."

I loved how Kenzie's and Lorne's first reactions were to frown.

"That's sad." Lorne let out a sigh. "But we have lots of creative people around here if you want to adopt new parents."

Neither of us was sure if he was serious or not, so Paxton handled it with his wonderful manners. "Thank you for the offer. You have a lot of creative people in town."

Kenzie nodded, giving another wiggle as he reached for a cookie. "I don't know if it's the magic influencing the people or just the type of people who are attracted to the area. Maybe both?"

Blinking, Paxton slowly nodded as I started enjoying my juice. "That's something to think about. A chicken and the egg kind of situation."

And they were off.

It wasn't little play but they had a lively discussion about the creation of the town and if magic could influence creativity. By the time Kenzie was lecturing everyone on what he knew about the new humans in the area who were creatively focused, Paxton had eaten several cookies and had done his best to give my nearly empty cup several covert glances.

He finally broke.

He wanted the juice.

Doing his best to subtly grab a cup, he rested it on his knee and just ignored it. "Do you think the humans in the area who aren't supposed to know anything are actually that in the dark?"

It was a good question and one that had Lorne and Kenzie coming at it from two very different perspectives. So as Lorne debated the merits of pretending to be stupid and Kenzie thought people were just sweet and could ignore anything odd, Paxton studied them and discreetly took a sip of his juice.

The two naughty dragons were polite this time and pretended to ignore Paxton. There was no way they missed it but it was what Paxton needed to start relaxing again. It also opened the door for his little side just the tiniest bit because as he started giving his thoughts on what he'd seen around town, he slipped down to the floor and ended up right between my legs.

So I stroked his head, stole a few more cookies, and finished my juice as they got to know each other and picked apart the town. Eventually they came back around to the magic question and as Paxton set down his empty cup, he looked up at me and frowned. "Can they come on our walk with us, Daddy?"

The naughty troublemakers flashed happy grins as I nodded but the grins were gone before Paxton looked over at them again. "We're going with Alick and Grady to see the portal tomorrow. We're starting early but we'd love it if you came."

Kenzie's face went from excited to sad to happy to frustrated. "Mornings are very early."

Lorne patted his head. "It's okay. I'll be annoying and make sure your Daddy knows you need to be up."

Lorne was wonderfully helpful and gave Kenzie a beaming smile. "It'll be fun."

As long as Kenzie wasn't a grumpy little dragon, he was right.

"We should go tell your Daddy about it and then mine and Carrick." Doing a little happy dance, Lorne stood up. "We have to make sure we know where our backpacks are."

Kenzie nodded. "And we need to make sure we have water and snacks. Oh, and that kit that has first aid stuff. There are bugs outside."

Yes, there were…and somehow that wasn't so obvious it didn't need to be commented on.

But we were both patient as Lorne turned back to us and gave a curtsy. "Thank you for the tea party. This was wonderful and you have good cookies."

"And they won't tattle on us." Kenzie thought that was the best part of the afternoon. "We'll see you tomorrow."

Then the hurricane that was Lorne and Kenzie whirled out of the house with Lorne calling out a promise to show Paxton his beetles next time.

Paxton was very quiet for a few moments before he let out a deep breath and collapsed against my legs. "That was hard, Daddy."

"Oh yeah." Leaning over, I kissed his head and wrapped my arms around him. "But you did it. You had your first tea party and your guests had a wonderful time."

Paxton's head cocked as he looked at the table. "I think we were their guests, actually."

Laughing, I shrugged. "Either way it was fun and I would say that you made some new friends."

Paxton huffed and turned around to climb up in my lap. When he was settled in place with his face tucked against my neck, he hummed. "Maybe? I think they just adopted me if I'm being honest."

"Well, it could've been worse. They could've gotten dead set on finding you new parents that were handy." I was trying not to laugh at that idea but it was hard. "So yeah, I think you came out of this the winner either way."

Paxton couldn't decide if he was going to pout, giggle, or sigh, but he finally settled on groaning and petting my chest. "I drank juice, Daddy."

"So did I. We have good juice but lots of dishes now. Tea parties are kind of messy." That got me a giggle from my slightly overwhelmed boy. "But they found my pitcher and we had a good snack and no one is going to get tattled on."

It wasn't a bad afternoon by local standards.

"I'm not sure inviting themselves in and making a tea party is polite." Paxton seemed to be turning everything over in his head and was stuck on that part. "They were very excited, though, so it was hard to tell them no."

They had skills I really hoped Paxton never learned.

"But they didn't talk about little things or playtime. They had fun talking about the area and magic and are even excited that you asked them to come on our hike. I think you'll like doing things with them occasionally even if it's not playtime kind of stuff." Paxton would eventually get there, but we weren't in a rush.

Besides, we had more important things to discuss.

And as I shifted him around so I could rub my hand over his bottom, he giggled and seemed to know what I was going to ask next. "The surprise tea party interrupted our scene. How is your bottom, cutie?"

Shrugging, his hand tried to start inching up my chest, thumb sticking up like it was inching toward his mouth. "Hey, no hiding behind your thumb. Who taught you that?"

Why those old men kept trying to make my life harder was beyond me.

Paxton snickered but didn't tattle. "I'm fine, Daddy."

My scoff got more happy sounds from him. "That is not a good enough explanation. Is your bottom achy or does it feel good again? Does good mean something good or something naughty? Did you get enough tinglies? Did you like your spanking? Did you—"

Squeaking, Paxton sat up and gave me a kiss to stop my questions. His soft lips and sweet sighs saved him for several long moments, but he was fair game again once he pulled back. "Did you—"

"You didn't get to come, Daddy." He seemed to be willing to discuss nearly anything else but his spanking, and watching his mind whirl was wonderfully entertaining. "You didn't get all clean either. Let's fix that. I'll be a good helper."

Hopping off the couch, he grabbed my hands and tugged. "Yes, I'm going to be a good helper, Daddy. You can have tinglies too."

Laughing would've been a terrible response to such earnest manipulation, so I did my best to hold it in as I stood up. "Yes, getting all clean would be a good idea. I had to rush earlier."

And I'd been hard for long enough that precum was an issue.

I knew a lot of guys didn't produce that much but I did and I was frustrated.

"Thank you for taking care of me." Squeezing his hands before releasing one, I leaned over and kissed his forehead. "Can I ask taking care of you and helping you move here questions?"

Was it too soon for that?

Paxton scrunched his face up as he marched us through the house, but it was the way he started mumbling to himself that was the cutest thing I'd ever seen. "Spankings or moving? Yes. That's not a debate."

Paxton's bright smile was completely fake but he seemed pleased with the idea of moving because I could feel it through the bond. "I can move here, Daddy. You have a pretty house and I can hike and look for bugs and do…do stuff."

Shrugging as we made our way to the bedroom, Paxton didn't seem worried about his lack of plans. "I like doing stuff."

"I'm glad." That meant he'd find things to do even if it took him a while to plan out his next steps. "I also own the house outright and my job pays all the bills easily. So even if you just have fun with bugs and hike for a while, it'll be fine."

There was a bounce in his step as he nearly hopped into the bathroom. "And we've got to fix the bugs and I have to find more bugs and I have to see what else is weird. That takes time. Is that okay, Daddy?"

He seemed to be expecting it to be okay based on his casual tone, but he tilted his head and waited patiently as he stopped in the bathroom.

"Yes. I just want you to find things that make you happy. Because you won't like staying here if you're not happy." I shrugged and threw up one hand as he giggled. "I like you. I like it here. I want you to like it here. That means you have to be happy."

"That's Daddy logic." He was trying to shake his head and act like I was ridiculous, but he only managed it for a few seconds before he threw himself against me and kissed my cheek. "I like Daddy logic and I like being happy."

And having someone that put him first in their life probably didn't hurt either.

He'd never spelled it right out, but between his parents and his dating history, no one had ever put him first.

But I was his mate, so I wasn't like anyone else in the entire world.

"I like it when you're happy too." Giving him a quick peck, I rubbed my nose against his as he cuddled close. "What kind of things make you happy?"

Nothing he said would've surprised me, but the start to his list made me smile.

"You drinking apple juice first makes me happy." He giggled as I laughed. "And you buying me muffins from the bakery so I don't have to go answer the weird questions makes me happy."

That wasn't hard because he slept like a rock and hadn't even noticed that I'd run out to get them, but I would remember it going forward.

"And you being sneaky and buying me toys makes me happy." He crashed his face into my shoulder, making more happy sounds. "You're silly."

If helping him figure out what he liked to do when he was little besides snuggle and hump made me silly, well, I was guilty as charged.

"You telling me that you just like me makes me happy." His giggles faded as he snuggled closer. "You never even said I had to get fixed to date you. You didn't even say we had to leave the house."

"The old men keep telling you how to be little every time you leave the house. I have to keep you safe or they might try to steal you from me. You're just so cute." And so tired of everyone around him telling him to be more grown-up or more boring.

My sweet Paxton had never had anyone tell him to just be himself, and I had a feeling this was the first time he'd ever tried to find what being himself looked like.

Teasing him over them stealing him got me another giggle, but he didn't move away. "I'm your mate. They can't have me."

"That's right." Kissing his head, I snuggled him close and rubbed his back. "Mates belong together, so you're mine and I'm yours."

Paxton kissed my cheek before curling back into me. "Having a mate makes me happy."

"It makes me happy too."

His fingers started caressing over my chest as he kissed my neck. "Helping you get all clean would make me happy too, Daddy."

Well, who was I to stand in the way of his happiness?